Charities links with schools for many services

Catholic Charities collaborates with schools to identify areas of concern, and "we seek to provide services where the schools' role ends," said Tom Mayer, director of Catholic Charities' Schoharie Family and Community Services.

The broad range of programs offered includes tutoring, mentoring, abstinence education, HIV/AIDS education, conflict resolution, peer mediation, alternatives to suspension, crisis response, substance abuse prevention and counseling. Services are offered to students, but they often include training and support for teachers and parents as well.

Partnership

Kathie Greenblatt, executive director of Catholic Charities of Delaware and Otsego Counties, which works in St. Mary's School in Oneonta and a number of public schools, summed up the reason for Catholic Charities' presence in the schools: "It is important that services be present and available" to children and their families in the schools.

"This reduces the stigma and increases the chance that people who need counseling, crisis and violence intervention, and support for academic and parenting success will know where to turn," she said.

Among the many challenges facing young people is the potential for drug, alcohol and tobacco use. Substance abuse prevention educators use age-appropriate, research-based curricula to teach elementary and secondary school students social and drug-resistance skills in a number of schools throughout the Diocese.

For example, in grades K-2 at Taconic Hills Central School, educators from Catholic Charities of Columbia and Greene Counties use puppets to teach the children critical life skills.

Violence prevention

JoAnn Salamone, TREATY coordinator, says the schools "understand it is useless to tell young people not to fight without teaching them other satisfying ways to settle their disputes."

Community Maternity Services (CMS) is also present in the schools through "Worth Waiting For," a program that offers prevention services for young people at risk for premature sexual activity.

The eight-week information and support program also offers a component for parents of adolescents.

Eileen Rossler, associate executive director of community-based services for CMS noted, "We recognize adolescence as a 'window of opportunity' for developing both skills and character in young people."

Crisis intervention

Catholic Charities counselors work in many schools throughout the Diocese, including Fulton County where five counselors are providing care in four school districts.

Their presence can help children in crisis, and recently "played a pivotal role in ending a young girl's ordeal of sexual abuse," said Robin Lair, a school-based counselor and supervisor for Catholic Charities of Fulton County. After the girl disclosed her situation, "the counselor worked to ensure that the girl and her family received the treatment and support they so desperately needed."

Having an effect

The students, she explained, "learn how to communicate better cope and deal with stress and resist peer pressure."

Those involved remain committed to continuing these programs in the future, with the goal of strengthening students for the challenges that lie ahead. The efforts are, said Ms. Rossler, "planting seeds of faith, hope and commitment in our next generation."

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